"Down in the valley, up on the ridge"--- new Economist article on Melungeons by Andrew Miller

[carolinayellowdog]

I talked to the reporter at length but am only quoted briefly. This is the only place on DU or its rivals where I feel even a little bit safe in sharing this kind of information-- "get rid of the South and everyone in it" seeming to be mainstream both here and at jpr. But I think we are slowly and incrementally moving forward on race issues here in a way that the rest of the country ignores or dismisses.

Here is the article.

[whatthehey]

1. An interesting demographic

As they are perceived as more "cool" today than their shunned history it seems we are seeing a Woodstock phenomenon with more people claiming Melungeon ancestry than are likely to have it. Seems the half imposed half chosen isolation up in the mountains around Sneedville is less restrictive than before too. Haven't read the article yet but did they ever get a real DNA profile yet to pinpoint ancestry?

[carolinayellowdog]

2. Three different DNA studies, three different profiles

A study done of mitochondrial DNA done in 2002 found 83% European, 5% each Native American and Subsaharan African, and 7% various kinds of Asian DNA on the maternal lines. A 2010 autosomal study, measuring everything BUT the mother's-mother's mother and father's father's father etc. lines, found matching with these triracial populations but also a lot of South and Southwest Asian, and specifically a lot of matches to Romani Gypsies. Only the 2012 Y-DNA study found a purely biracial, rather than triracial or four continent profile-- 60/40 European/African male progenitors. Absence of Native American Y is easily explained, in contrast to the equal Native American and African elements in the mitochondrial study, by the drastically different levels of Native American "miscegenation" between white males and Indian females (widespread and well-attested) and Indian males and white females (unheard-of and undocumented.)

As for more claiming than having Melungeon ancestry, that depends on how narrowly or broadly you define it. I come from a "purely and proudly White ever since 1790, despite the fact that we were called mulatto in colonial tax records" source population in eastern NC, and thus identify as Melungeon-related rather than Melungeon per se since I don't have any ancestors in Appalachia. Hundreds of thousands of "white" and "black" and "Indian" Carolinians and Virginians are Melungeon-related in this way, versus only a few thousand "Melungeon descendants" in terms of specific lineage along the VA/TN line.

[whatthehey]

4. Fascinating thanks. Hadn't heard of Romani links before.

[minoan]

3. My family is Melungeon

We never really talked about it when I was growing up but we all knew it. My family name is mentioned in that article and I grew up one county over from Hancock County.

[carolinayellowdog]

6. Welcome to DU, honored that your first post was in response to this article

"Never talked about it but we all knew it" is SO reminiscent of things I've heard from folks in NE TN.

[brer cat]

5. That is very interesting, cyd.

I love reading/learning about Appalachia. I live in north GA at the southern end, and the area is full of fascinating history, culture, and characters. It's good to see parts of the histories coming to light.

[carolinayellowdog]

7. thanks-- I think north GA and AL are the southernmost parts of what I call the "Melungeon zone"

which extends as far north as Ohio. People with triracial ancestry extend at least from New York to Texas, but the term Melungeon seems to extend roughly from your area to southern OH.

[WeavingWoman]

8. Very interesting

Very interesting article. We think there's a possibility that I might be at least part Melungeon. My biological father was described as "dark" or "swarthy". I've looked at pictures of people who are Melungeon and they look like me. Would love to have my DNA tested.

[carolinayellowdog]

9. welcome to DU, and I encourage DNA testing which is much less expensive than in the past

Apart from the Melungeon issue, it is certainly a good thing for "white" Americans to learn how much "nonwhite" ancestry is revealed by their DNA, and for African Americans to learn how much of their "white" ancestry dates to the pre-chattel-slavery era of consensual partnerships across what were later called, pseudo-scientifically, "racial" boundaries. The horrors of chattel slavery have created denialism on both sides of the "racial" divide-- which did not exist in the 17thc. The "white rapists/black victims" scenario while quite accurate about the 19thc has created a willful blindness on both sides of the "color line" about how different things were in the colonial era.

[GeoWilliam750]

10. Very interesting read - thank you